


Love and Scandal

by AnonymousPumpkin



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/M, Tea, what the fuck am i even doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2014-02-13
Packaged: 2017-12-09 08:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousPumpkin/pseuds/AnonymousPumpkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Affection wasn’t something that came naturally to Zuko. It was like everything else he reached for. It was elusive, ever escaping his grasp, and burning into ashes when his fingers curled around it. But luckily for him…love came armed with a teapot. A love story brewed very slowly, very quietly, and in very small cups.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lack of Crocus

The first time he burned her, it was, of course, an accident. The first time he started a fire, however, was not.

It was a matter of curiosity, of science, really. He knew she was a Water Bender…that was, after all, her appeal, wasn’t it? That was why his father kept her around. Some kind of perverse pleasure was in it, he was sure, having their greatest enemy serve them faithfully and silently. But in the years that she had been around, Zuko had never once see the Tribe girl move a single drop. Of course, she hardly needed to. She was perfect.

But that didn’t stop him trying. He dropped cups, he knocked over pots, he did whatever he could to knock water around and force her to bend it to prevent disaster. But she was too quick for him, too well-prepared, and he was often thwarted with her quick fingers and deft movements.

This time, though…this time, he would get his just reward. After a full night lying awake thinking about it, all it took was a twitching finger, a forceful thought, and the smallest flame was set. He was like fire, he thought, determined and all-consuming and, best of all, in desperate need of a little waterworks.

Of course, the thing about fire is how uncontrollable it was, and everything went awry about three seconds later. All that planning, and in the end, all Zuko walked away with was a burned sleeve and an arm covered in scalding hot tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _the resilient crocus, a purplish hue, represents foresight  
>  or in the case of our hero, a stunning lack thereof_


	2. Flowering Almond

_She didn’t say a word, but her smile spoke volumes._

The nine-year-old heir and the seven-year-old slave faced each other with naught but empty tea cups between them. Steam rose and illuminated young faces. She waited in patient silence and he seethed with words unsaid.

The despair poured out of him like a flood and he drowned in it. And when he was gasping for air, a pair of brown hands extended to him, holding a teacup with a bright pink flower floating in a tiny amber sea. He didn’t understand why it calmed him, but it did. When she was turned, he took the flower and he kept it in his sleeve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _flowering almond, a pink and white bloom, represents hope_


	3. Belladonna

She never said a word. He thought it was impossible for a person to be completely silent, but she was. He knew she _could_ speak, because everyone _could_ speak, but for some reason, she _didn’t_. He had heard her, once, muttering to his uncle in reply to some loud and obvious comment about the quality of her tea. He once heard her murmur thanks to his mother, but had been too far away to know any more than the fact that her lips were moving. Even his cousin Fa had commented once how the Water Tribe girl had spoken to him about the weather, and had a voice like flowing rivers.

No matter how he tried, no matter what questions he asked, no matter how much he pleaded, aloud or otherwise, to him, the tea girl’s lips were sealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _the dark deadly belladonna represents silence_


	4. Flax

Her face was beet red and her eyes were downturned. Even so, he could feel her terror. Her mistake would be her demise. Without thinking, he leaned forward, grabbing a napkin and pressing it against his father's sleeve, though he was immediately pushed away.

"Forgive me, Father!" he murmured, unease adding the perfect quiver to his voice and making the deceit complete. "I didn't mean to—"

Ozai roughly waved off both his son and his apology. "So clumsy," he mumbled, but for once the harshness in his voice didn't seem to hurt. As Zuko settled back into his seat, he dared to look across the table and found her gaze was on him. Though she didn't speak, her eyes shone brightly and her lips formed a silent word.

_"Thanks."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _flax, which comes in both blue and red, says 'i feel your kindness'_


	5. Peach

Zuko panted, his legs threatening to fail beneath him as he walked from the ring with a strange mix of shame and elation. Sweat poured off of him and his breath was ragged and wheezy. He hadn’t done as well as Azula…that was impossible. But he hadn’t _lost_. He’d _won_. He searched the crowd eagerly for two faces, one like his own and the other…the other a few shades darker.

The exhausted prince barely made it to his spot to sit down, his body giving out at just the right time. Soft footsteps approached and he looked up into a pair of clear blue eyes. A cup was pushed towards him and, bewildered, he accepted. As she turned away, Zuko couldn’t stop himself, leaning forward.

“Did you…did I…you…did I do okay?” He immediately regretted saying a thing as the tangled mess of words fell out of his mouth. What a fool he was, seeking the approval of a slave.

She turned to him, her face turned a strange shade by the shadows, and she nodded, the slightest smile on her face.

Never, Zuko thought, had tea ever tasted sweeter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _the peach bloom means that your qualities, like your charms, are unequaled_


	6. Dill

The smell of spices was sharp in the air. Simple fish dishes and multiple cups full of liquids of various colors were set before him, and for once Zuko didn’t want to fidget. His mother laughed, absorbed in conversation. His father almost smiled, listening in with little subtlety. His uncle drunkly sang the tea girl’s praises. And the tea girl laughed as well, quiet and soft, and when it was requested of her filled another cup.

She smiled at him as she pushed a cup towards him, and bade him silently, _drink_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _dill, a strong smelled herb, represents good spirits  
>  which are rare and cherished in the palace of the fire lord_


	7. Oats

Her voice rose and fell, spinning worlds for him even as he was too entranced to hear the words. His tea was forgotten in his hand. He was focused only on her, fulfilling his joking request as was her duty, singing for him now that no one else was around.

He felt almost like a different person when she stopped, and, heartened by their solitude and her show of faith, finally dared ask.

“What is your name?”

Her answer was more music than her lullaby, and it was the note that kept him high for days.

_Katara._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _the soft oat in this instance represents music of the sweetest kind_


	8. Calendula

Sometimes the only thing that could possibly remind him of her was the tea parties. She had loved them, and she had especially loved the little tea girl. Every time he looked into her brown face, he thought of how his mother had been charmed by those pretty features.

His father and sister never came anymore, but once a month, Zuko would find himself wandering into the familiar, empty pavilion, and Katara would look up and she would smile and the world would seem a little less dark. Sometimes Iroh would even come, and if he focused hard enough on the hilarity of his uncle’s stories, Zuko could pretend that his mother’s laughter was mixed in with his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _calendula is remembrance and grief_
> 
> _this chapter has no real place in the timeline, it is just one i have had written for a while._


End file.
